LiquidVPN

Apple-FBI anti-climax as outsider intervenes

This week was meant to be the week that things changed. Apple was probably going to take things to the supreme court; they had the launch of several new bits and pieces. Things did not quite pan out, however. The court hearing scheduled for today got cancelled. Apparently the FBI have found another way into the phone. Apple is definitely going to want to see what the FBI came up with.

The FBI wants time to test the method that was graciously presented to them. Until now the FBI has been criticised for failing to understand the fundamental error in its backdoor reasoning. It appears that someone has taken pity on them. In a court ruling, the FBI stated that an “outside party” had demonstrated a possible method for unlocking the phone.

April 5th is the new date to wait for; the FBI will have until then to decide if it wants to pursue the case. Apple’s lawyers told reporters in a conference call that they do not consider this a legal victory for that reason.

Apple Duds

As for the gauntlets and razzmatazz at Apple’s Let Us Loop You In the event, there were few major ones. Notes are now secure. iMessages got patched after security researchers at John Hopkins found a way to decrypt photos and videos sent via the service.

“Apple works hard to make our software more secure with every release. We appreciate the team of researchers that identified this bug and brought it to our attention so we could patch the vulnerability.” (Apple)

Tim Cook did give a small speech to the court of public opinion, basically saying how Apple was up for whatever the FBI through at them.

“We built the iPhone for you, our customers, and we know it is a deeply person device. It is an extension of ourselves. We need to decide as a nation how much power the government should have over our data and our privacy” – Tim Cook (The Verge)